Intentions to Marry, 1903 North Island

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840423, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, October 10 2025

1903 is bound in two volumes, North Island districts and South Island districts.

Page 1249

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1903

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

169

21 March 1903

William Augustus Thompson
Mary Bey Williams

William Augustus Thompson
May Bey Williams
💍 1903/521

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

29
21

Auckland
Auckland

29 years
1 year

Primitive Methodist Church, Franklin Rd

03/163

21 March 1903

Rev. W. J. Potter, Primitive Methodist

No	169
Date of Notice	21 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Augustus Thompson	Mary Bey Williams
BDM Match (97%)	William Augustus Thompson	May Bey Williams
	💍 1903/521
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	29 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Franklin Rd
Folio	03/163
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Potter, Primitive Methodist

170

23 March 1903

Arthur Henry Brabant
Sara Ann Campbell

Arthur Henry Brabant
Sara Ann Campbell
💍 1903/2115

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

34
24

Auckland
Auckland

10 years
24 years

House of Father of Bride, Ponsonby

03/163

23 March 1903

Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian

No	170
Date of Notice	23 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Henry Brabant	Sara Ann Campbell
	💍 1903/2115
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 years	24 years
Marriage Place	House of Father of Bride, Ponsonby
Folio	03/163
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian

171

23 March 1903

Martin Lawson
Clara Elizabeth Markham Kendall

Martin Lawson
Clara Elizabeth Markham Kendall
💍 1903/527

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach Trimmer

31
25

Auckland
Auckland

6 years
23 years

House of Father of Bride, Freeman's Bay

03/164

23 March 1903

Rev. W. J. Potter, Primitive Methodist

No	171
Date of Notice	23 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Martin Lawson	Clara Elizabeth Markham Kendall
	💍 1903/527
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach Trimmer
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	6 years	23 years
Marriage Place	House of Father of Bride, Freeman's Bay
Folio	03/164
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Potter, Primitive Methodist

172

24 March 1903

Albert Ferdinand Penn Bradly
Ada May Victoria Watkins

Albert Ferdinand Penn Bradly
Ada Mary Victoria Watkins
💍 1903/1237

Bachelor
Spinster

Agent

29
22

Auckland
Auckland

8 years
5 years

All Saints Church, Ponsonby

03/2354

24 March 1903

Ven. Arch. W. Calder, Church of England

No	172
Date of Notice	24 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Ferdinand Penn Bradly	Ada May Victoria Watkins
BDM Match (98%)	Albert Ferdinand Penn Bradly	Ada Mary Victoria Watkins
	💍 1903/1237
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Agent
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	8 years	5 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Ponsonby
Folio	03/2354
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. W. Calder, Church of England

173

24 March 1903

Walter Herbert Johnston
Marjory Hilda Douglas Connell

Walter Herbert Johnston
Marjory Hilda Douglas Connell
💍 1903/588

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyor

37
23

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
2 years

St. Mary's Cathedral, Parnell

03/100

24 March 1903

Rev. J. H. Chappell, Church of England

No	173
Date of Notice	24 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Herbert Johnston	Marjory Hilda Douglas Connell
	💍 1903/588
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyor
Age	37	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Cathedral, Parnell
Folio	03/100
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Chappell, Church of England

174

24 March 1903

Francis Charles Harkins
Hilda Moselen

Frances Charles Harkins
Hilda Moselen
💍 1903/3195

Bachelor
Spinster

Box Maker

23
20

Auckland
Auckland

23 years
20 years

St. Matthew's Church, Auckland

03/2345

William Moselen, father of bride

24 March 1903

Rev. W. E. Gillam, Church of England

No	174
Date of Notice	24 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Charles Harkins	Hilda Moselen
BDM Match (98%)	Frances Charles Harkins	Hilda Moselen
	💍 1903/3195
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Box Maker
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	23 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Auckland
Folio	03/2345
Consent	William Moselen, father of bride
Date of Certificate	24 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. E. Gillam, Church of England

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1903. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).